A technique for processing a telephone call from a calling party without accepting the call and subsequently, in response, initiating a call to the calling party. Utilizing this technique on an ISDN connection in which a customer is connected to an Internet Service Provider, calls initiated by the Internet Service Provider will not be answered by the customer, but the customer will be alerted and, in response, will place a call to the Internet Service Provider.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A method of processing a call from a calling party without accepting the call and subsequently initiating a call, comprising: receiving an incoming telephone signal to commence establishing a communication link with the calling party being an Internet Service Provider, the incoming signal attemptinc a connection from the Internet Service Provider providing access to the Internet; terminating an attempt to establish the communication link by the calling party; and automatically initiating a call by a processing device to the calling party to establish the communication link with the calling party for access to the Internet in response to the calling party's earlier attempt to establish the communication link.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein said receiving of the incoming signal further includes receiving a digital message identifying the calling party's identity and identifying the calling party's identity to determine if connection to establish a communication link is permitted prior to initiating the call to the calling party.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein said terminating also includes initiating a disconnect signal to disconnect the attempt to communicate by the calling party.
4. A method of processing a call from a calling party on a digital network without accepting the call and subsequently initiating a call to the calling party in response to an attempt by the calling party to establish a digital network connection, comprising: receiving an incoming signal to commence establishing the digital network connection with the calling party being an Internet Service Provider providing access to the Internet; initiating a disconnect signal to terminate the attempt to establish the digital network connection by the calling party; initiating a call to the calling party to establish the digital network connection with the calling party in response to the calling party's earlier attempt to establish the digital network connection, the initiating of the call to the calling party is automatic without human intervention and includes initiating the call to connect to the calling party for access to the Internet.
5. The method of claim 4 wherein said receiving of the incoming signal, initiating the disconnect signal and initiating the call to the calling party include following a protocol determnined by a CCITT Q.931 protocol.
6. In an Integrated Services Digital Network, ISDN, where a processing apparatus is coupled to the ISDN for transfer of digital information, a processing a call from a calling party without accepting the call and subsequently initiating a call to the calling party in response to an attempt by the calling party to establish the ISDN connection, comprising: receiving an incoming setup message to commence establishing the ISDN connection with the calling party; initiating a disconnect message to terminate the attempt to establish the ISDN connection by the calling party; initiating a new setup message to call the calling party to establish the ISDN connection with the calling party in response to the calling party's earlier attempt to establish the ISDN connection, the initiating of the new set up message is automatic by the processing apparatus; and establishing the ISDN connection when the calling party responds to the new setup message with a connect message.
7. The method of claim 6 wherein said receiving of the incoming setup message, initiating the disconnect and new setup messages are performed by following a protocol determined by a CCITT Q.931 protocol.
8. The method of claim 7 wherein said receiving of the incoming setup message includes receiving the message to attempt a connection from an Internet Service Provider, who provides access to the Internet; and said initiating of the new setup message includes initiating the message to connect to the Internet Service Provider for access to the Internet.
9. The method of claim 7 wherein said receiving of the incoming setup message further includes receiving a digital message which identifies the calling party's identity; said identifying includes identifying the calling party as an Internet Service Provider, who provides access to the Internet; and said initiating of the new setup message initiates the call to connect to the Internet Service Provider for access to the Internet.
10. An apparatus for processing a call from a calling party without accepting the call and subsequently initiating a call to the calling party comprising: a receiver for receiving an incoming signal to commence establishing a communication link with the calling; a processor coupled to said receiver for identifying an attempt by the calling party to initiate a connection to establish the communication link and terminating an attempt to establish the communication link by the calling party; a dialer coupled to the processor for automatically calling the calling party to establish the communication link with the calling party in response to the calling party's earlier attempt to establish the communication link.
11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the communication link is utilized for transferring digital information.
12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said processor further initiates a disconnect message to terminate the attempt to establish the communication link.
13. The apparatus of claim 12 comprises a router.
14. The apparatus of claim 12 comprises a router which is utilized to couple a computer user to an Internet Service Provider.
15. In an Integrated Services Digital Network, ISDN, where a computing device is coupled to the ISDN for processing of digital information which is transferred over the ISDN, an apparatus for interfacing the computing device to the ISDN to process a call from a calling party without accepting the call and subsequently initiating a call to the calling party in response to an attempt by the calling party to establish an ISDN connection comprising: a receiver for receiving an incoming signal to commence establishing a communication link with the calling; a processor coupled to said receiver for identifying an attempt by the calling party to initiate a connection to establish the communication link and terminating an attempt to establish the communication link by the calling party; a dialer coupled to the processor for automatically calling the calling party to establish the communication link with the calling party in response to the calling party's earlier attempt to establish the communication link.
16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein said processor further initiates a disconnect message to terminate the attempt to establish the communication link.
17. The apparatus of claim 16 comprises a router.
18. The apparatus of claim 16 comprises a router which is utilized to couple a computer user to an Internet Service Provider.
19. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the ISDN operates under a CCITT Q.931 protocol.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
September 25, 1998
April 6, 2004
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